October Camp 2014

Looking back towards Mont Blanc, home of the BSA from 3500m on the Tignes Glacier

This October's BSA adventure started on the Tignes glacier as the Ladies and Mens FIS teams joined coaches Ali and Ruslan for some technical freeskiing and gate training on the slopes of 3500m, Champagny and Rosolin. The teams were based in the oldest chalet in Tignes Le Lac - Le Chardonnet and right opposite the sports hall which they visited after snow training each day.

Amazing snow

But our main training week happened 3 hours away in Les Deux Alpes.  We had 43 trainees, 10 staff to look after them all and 7 days of training.  The glacier was in brilliant condition, with firm snow that didn't rut or bump up throughout the day!  Our training lanes were one of the best on the mountain with loads of space so we had the opportunity to set a variety of training courses and race courses.  The weather was also extremely kind to us - what we'd call 'bluebird' days - blue skies, no wind and warm temperatures...actually the best weather we have ever had in an October camp!



View from our lunch stop at base camp

Superstar Simon did some great development
work with some of the newer and younger athletes

There were lift queues in the morning due to the popularity of this glacier but because of the weather we managed to stay up on the mountain until last lift every day! This meant the athletes got lots of freeskiing time and mileage on the skis while also having the time to take their technical work into the gates.



The camp started with some foundation work on the Giant Slalom skis and we continued working on GS for 3 days.  Progressing each group into drill courses and eventually full gates depending on their experience and progress - the great thing about having so much space here is the options to have a FIS course for the Junior program, some children's courses and skills for the younger athletes too.


We then trained Slalom for the next 3 days with some groups working on fast feet off snow to help with quicker courses on the hill.  We also kept it competitive with a mix of dual slalom racing and timing.

So after all the hard work of the week, we finished on our final day with a fun fresski morning - riding in the park, carving all the slopes that the glacier has to offer and practising the new skills learnt.  By now the athletes were shattered!  Time for a good snooze on the drive home!

Well done to all the athletes for their organisation and time keeping, the housemums for their tireless work looking after everyone (including the coaches), the coaches for their efforts in coaching all aspects of being a racer and of course to Malcolm for managing the whole operation! Camp a success!

BSA Trainee - Will Feneley

Last year, in addition to alpine, park and pipe and skicross Will started training and competing in moguls. Moguls combines many elements of all the other disciplines and is judged on 3 elements: 50% of the score is you technique and style through the moguls, 25% of the score is the execution of the 2 jumps (with a multiplier- which can be negative or positive depending on difficulty of the jump), and 25% is your speed down the course. Will took to moguls like a duck to water and has had podiums in many mogul competitions.

 

In March 2014 he achieved the criteria to be selected to represent GB in moguls at the Junior Worlds, the youngest GB athlete (14yrs) ever to represent Gb in moguls. This year he has been awarded a FIS B licence for moguls, and is on the National Academy for Moguls team. He has already competed at FIS competitions this season, most recently in the British and European indoor moguls championships in Manchester. These competitions included competitors from all round the world including USA and Japan. Will achieved some great results:

Overall British Dual Moguls Champion

Overall U16 Dual Moguls Champion
Overall Dual Moguls 4^th place.

In the singles competitions he was 8^th overall in the British Chamionships, and 9^th overall in the European (all countries and ages).

Will also competes in tumbling gymnastics at National level, achieving a Bronze medal in the national champs this year.

 

 

Photos: Will performing Forward Flip at FIS British Mogul Championships, Chill Factore Sept 2014  & Podium - Will Feneley- British overall and U16 dual moguls Champion

Summer Camp photos 2014

More photos of the Zermatt Camp group, and more to follow of Norwich.
Also see Jordan's excellent report on his Summer training in Les Houches and Zermatt: blog

Summer Camp - Zermatt, Switzerland

 

We had 40 BSA trainees on our 2 week summer glacier camp at Zermatt, Switzerland. The resort was full of world cup ski stars from across the world, there to take advantage of training at the highest skiable area in Europe. There can be no better inspiration for our young racers than training alongside some of the best ski racers in the world and Zermatt provides training opportunities second to none for summer skiing in Europe. Along with the BSA regulars we were delighted to welcome a number of new racers to the programme who integrated very quickly and we look forward to seeing them again this coming season. 

*Great day up on the Glacier 

The coaching team assembled was really exceptional and pulled together to provide some amazing input for the trainees on the camp. We had Ruslan Natchkov and Ali Morton who are heading up the Male and Female FIS teams for the season supporting a number of our current British Junior team athletes at an age when the federation is not providing a programme. Also joining the full time coaching team this season with myself, Dave T and Cammy Gunn we were delighted to have Natalia Pruska join us for her first camp. Natalia brings a wealth of knowledge and experience having coached in Europe, the US and New Zealand.

In addition we were very fortunate to have some great guest coaches join us this summer. Recently retired British Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott was on hand to provide some great coaching and share her experience following the end of her illustrious career. It was also great to have along British Number 1 speed skier Dougy Crawford who joined us for some training in order to keep up to speed while he seeks funding and support for a program this coming season. He provided great influence training with our FIS athletes and was always willing to give encouragement and advice. Finally we had current British Senior Team member Jai Geyer joining us once again as a break in his own race programme allowed him to come and do some coaching with us. Overall we had a coaching team that provided some amazing input and inspiration to the next generation of British racers.

*Jack O’Neil working on his balance in dry land training

 

The first week of training presented some challenging weather conditions causing us to miss some days skiing, but we still got some useful technical foundation work done back on the skis and the trainees really knuckled down to fitness training mixed with much fun and games along the way. This was followed by a week of near perfect summer training conditions with some fresh snow from the previous week and cold temperatures overnight. The great thing with summer camp is it allows us to focus on making big changes and improvements in our trainees skiing without the pressure of imminent races approaching which we have during the season. With such great conditions and an excellent coaching set up it was amazing to see the progress made throughout the camp. At the end everyone was thoroughly exhausted with an incredible amount of hard work having gone into maximising the last 2 weeks.

 *Fraser Buchen training some Pro-SL
 

We are looking forward to our next camps at Norwich dry slope at the end of August and October glacier camp in Deux Alpes.

Scott

Scottish Championships

The Scottish Championships in Courchevel provided us with a good warm up for the British Championships immediately after.

Minis 

The minis enjoyed two days of racing in Courchevel, with a GS and Combi.  The minis ran after the childrens races therefore we had plenty time to warm up and make the most of the morning snow!  On our last day in Courchevel we were also lucky enough to watch members of the French National team take part in a SL ski testing session. 

GS

U12 Girls - 1st Siena Horton, 3rd Nadine Hugec 
U12 Boys - 1st Joe Christey
U10 Boys - 1st Max Laughland

Combi

U12 Girls - 1st Siena Horton, 2nd Nadine Hugec, 3rd Rebecca Chastney 
U12 Boys - 2nd Joe Christey, 4th Ted Slade 

Minis Report: 

"The Scottish Championships were good fun but very hard at times. Due to the warm conditions the courses were salted on both days to keep the snow hard. This also stopped huge ruts! On Sunday we enjoyed a very short  but difficult GS. This included a very big banana gate , this was the gate that you had to get right! We all had a very good GS day with many of the BSA coming in the top 15! 

On Monday we competed in a great Combi race which included GS gates,stubbies,some brushes that we had to jump over, suicides, undergates and wigwams(figure of eight).  Again this was very challenging course and we all were very tired at the end. Quite a lot of us on the first run missed a gate or fell over so we hard to come back hard in the second run, which most managed to do!  Again the BSA did very well with lots of us finishing in the top 15!

Overall  on these two days of competition everyone did very well! Now we look forward to the British, good luck everyone."

By Siena Horton U12 - Overall winner on both days of the Scottish Bairns Race!

 

Children 

The weather conditions on the first day caused the race to be cancelled meaning we had 2 races remaining. There was a slight difference from the normal format for the U14’s with each run counting as a separate race for prizes. There were some good performances and also some good indications of changes that need to be made in approaching the races in Meribel in the coming days

GS

U14 Boys Race 1 Charles Rankin 3^rdU14 Boys Race 2 Charles Rankin 2ndU16 Girls Marion Legais 2^nd U16 Girls Yazmin Cooper 3rd

SL

U14 Girls Hannah Loeffen-Gallager 2^ndU14 Girls Nicole Hugec 3^rdU14 Boys Harry Deighton 2^ndU16 Girls Megan Jenkins 1^st U16 Girls Lucinda Dilworth 3^rdU16 Boys Angus Wills 3^rd

Hatrick for O'Neil at Heinrich Harrer Cup

Jack O'Neil one of our long standing trainees,  had a great run of races at the Heinrich Harrer Cup. Winning in GS , SL and SG! A special mention to Jack's win on GS day as he won by over 2 seconds!

The race was held in Seefeild, Austria and he was representing his school the International  School of Geneva.

A massive congratulations to Jack, who took the hatrick and leaving with a brand new pair of skis!

Nearly the British ....

In the run up to the British Championships we have had a great week of training, with the snow being soft at times, it has been a good flavour of the usual conditions in Meribel! 

All of our trainees are excited to make the short trip to Meribel for the British Championships, and are ready for the races!

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our racers the best of luck in the Championships and we look forward to a very successful week for BSA!

SkiCross Training

Max Laughland U10

As many of you will know, the minis have a ski cross event at the British Alpine Championships which consists of both paneled gate and sometimes a few stubbies. 

Nadine Hugec U12 - getting comfortable in the tuck again.

This year, we have made the most off our local ski cross tack. With the minis enjoying a perfect morning getting used to the thrills and spills of ski cross once again.

Shona Rankin U12

Late Season Freeze !

In our final sprint towards the British Alpine Championships, mother nature has brought us a much welcomed cold snap! Which meant this the Monday morning was a whole lot better than most ...

Working on the powder rolls ... some way to go!!

... Slalom setting, course setter Oli Laughland,age 6.

SG training

This week following the Interschools we got back to training hard with only 2 ½ weeks remaining to the British championships. We have tried to make the most of the good weather with a few days of Super-G training before the snow comes in this weekend!

George Case and Jake Doyle enjoying some SG skiing !

Interschools

.http://www.britski.org/14issc.htm

We had incredibly successful few days this week hosting the Equity Interschools races here in Les Houches. We were pleased to welcome around 350 competitors from schools all over the Uk and a number of international schools. The races ran as incredibly smoothly with blue sky and sunshine throughout providing great spectating for some exiting racing.  This year the interschools was extremely different for those who were there last year . For the weekend prior and over the race days we were greeted by a high pressure system, bringing us summer temperatures on the hill! Many of the trainees (and less aclimatised staff) struggled to cope with the heat, however everyone at BSA is now well trained in the art of sunscreen application. Even those who began the week off by saying 'oh but i never burn' .

So with all the Brits in resort representing the 'Lobster' look, the races got underway. Early doors all round to make the most of the short period of time in which the snow remained hard. On the whole all of the courses held as well as could be expected, with the U12 boys SL on day two taking quite a beating and near enough replicating a bobsleigh track by second run .

The BSA trainees as always stepped up at the races, and produced some great results and some PBs. Perfect timing just before the British!

Minis

The minis had a great two days, where they got to compete in a GS and stubbies SL. The GS ran on Grand Bois this year again however we switched to skiers left, which is a slightly more challenging section of the hill. The SL was held on the lower section of Col De Voza, for the first time ever, and it appeared to be a hit with both kids and coaches!

Results:
GS
U12 boys - 2nd Ted Slade, 6th Barnaby Gray
U12 girls - 1st Sienna Horton, 2nd Sophie Foster, 3rd Rebecca Chastney
U10 boys - 2nd Max Laughland
U10 girls - 4th Sophie Stocker, 5th Kita O'Neil

A good effort from the BSA kids in the GS, the course held up very well and it was good to see some of the other guys getting pushed by those who are making big improvements, quickly!

SL
U12 boys - 1st Ted Slade, 3rd Barnaby Gray
U12 girls - 1st Sienna Horton, 3rd Rebecca Chastney, 4th Shona Rankin
U10 boys - 1st Max Laughland
U10 girls - 1st Sophie Stocker

The minis nailed the course in the SL race. They skied with great confidence and skill, which shows in the results! The second run for the U12 boys was very tough, due to the soft snow however they dealt so well with it and a  massive thankyou to all of the parents/coaches/BSA juniors who helped to keep the course in the best possible condition for the final few racers.

A quick mention to Jemima Cross who managed to finish 9th in the U12 girls and Dillion Beavis 10th in the U10 boys, with some excellent SL skiing from both of them. Well done !

Minis Report :

The sunny inter schools was a blast. Everyone had so much fun with a lot of competition. On Monday was the GS down Grand Bois, the snow conditions were slushy but icy so the right kind of snow to make ruts. While we were waiting at the top it was really hot so some of us made snowy holes to sit in! That GS course that day was very bumpy but you felt like you were flying. The next day the slalom , running on the col de vosa. All the minis were psyched because it was their first race doing slalom! On the top half  you have more room to turn  down at the bottom half it was tighter and turnier. It was the same, hot and sunny, but  with a little breeze, and everyone got sun burnt! Everyone did really well in the interschools and I think everyone enjoyed both courses.

By Anastasia Stocker & Sophie Stocker

Children

The children had a very successful two days of racing. The SL held well on Grad bois, and the GS struggled a little more on Col De Voza.  With a huge amount of help from the staff at BSA and many volunteers made running the second run on both days possible.

Results:

Slalom

U14 Girls - 2nd Hannah Loeffen-Gallagher

U14 Boys - 1st Oscar McCall, 3rd George Case

U16 Girls - 2nd Lucinda Dilworth

U18 Girls - 3rd Jazmin Butcher

U18 Boys - 2nd Fraser Buchan, 3rd Chris Guest

Giant Slalom

U14 Girls - 2nd Hannah Loeffen-Gallagher

U14 Boys - 1st Oscar McCall, 3rd George Case

U16 Girls - 2nd Yasmin Cooper, 3rd Lucinda Dilworth

U16 Boys -2nd Scott Buchan

U18 Girls - 1st Jazmin Butcher

U18 Boys - 1st Fraser Buchan, 3rd Chris Guest

Article: Scott and Aileen

Agilon Cup

http://www.britski.org/14aiglon.htm

This year the Agilon Cup held lots of lute for the BSA trainees. We had a fantastic two days skiing on two different race peists in Villars. This race was particularly good for some of our younger trainees as they got a massive confidence boost going into the interschools a few days later.

The minis and children cleared out prizegiving, with the minis winning each age category, and showing some real improvements in their skiing from our previous set of races in Bormio.

With two races for the minis - a GS on day one and a Kombi on day two – they were very excited.  The GS hill was perfect for these guys, with a flat top section allowing them to get into the swing of things followed by a steeper pitch which proved to be challenging.  Kombi day is always exciting as we are never quite sure what to expect! This year, we faced a tight pro SL course which had a tunnel in the mid-section of the course… some of the trainees began reminiscing about Bormio 2013!

GS Race

U12 Boys – 1^st Ted Slade, 3^rd Ben Lacour

U12 Girls – 1^st Rebecca Chastney, 3^rd Shona Rankin

U10 Boys – 1^st Max Laughland

U10 Girls – 1^st Kita O’Neil

Combi Race

U12 Boys – 1^st Ted Slade, 3^rd Ben Lacour

U12 Girls – 1^st Rebecca Chastney, 3^rd Shona Rankin

U10 Boys – 1^st Max Laughland

U10 Girls – 1^st Kita O’Neil

Minis Report:

"The 2014 Aiglon Cup was an amazing experience for me. The GS (giant slalom) was held on Thursday 13th March and was 2 runs best to count.For the minis it was a tight race with only tenths if seconds between racers.On Friday 14th the Minis Combi took place, again it was very close with only a matter of hundreds between first and second position.The Aiglon Cup was a very interesting and exciting race this year and I will be looking forward to it next year" 

By Ted Slade 

Shona improving her sliding skills...

The Interesting Kombi ...



The children also had a great amount of success at the Aiglon cup. Racing the same course as the U12s on the GS day and then having a SL race down a challenging peist. First run was a little tough for the Children as the snow was very firm and lacked much grip. However after the sun baked the slopes for a short while the conditions became much easier for the second run.

Giant Slalom
U14 Girls - 1^st Hannah Loeffen-Gallagher, 2^nd Meghan Davis, 3^rd Charlotte Tapsell

U14 Boys - 1^st Charles Rankin, 2^nd George Case, 3^rd Jake Doyle

U16 Girls - 2^nd Phillipa Baxter, 3^rd Sophie Lismore

Slalom

U14 Girls - 1^st Charlotte Tapsell, 2^nd Meghan Davis

U14 Boys -s 1^st Jake Doyle, 2^nd Charles Rankin

U16 Girls - 2^nd Phillipa Baxter, 3^rd Sophie Lismore

Article: Scott and Aileen

Ski Jumping

Ski Jumping

This weekend the BSA children were lucky enough to take part in a ski jumping session. Armed with GS skis, water bottles and some guts they took up the challenge.

With the sun blazing down in Les Houches everyone was in high spirits and feeling extra brave. It was great to have everyone involved, even if we had some nervous on-looking parents. 

After a few practices on the smaller jump, the confidence within the kids began to grow. Soon most were attempting the larger jump, despite the longer walk!

Some took to the sport very quickly – Oli Laughland at just six years old managed to master the biggest jump!

Minis Report : 

"Ski jumping is very fun.

When you are sitting at the top on the beam it is quite scary...

There is a big ski jump and a small ski jump the small ski jump is about a seven inch drop off and the big ski jump is about a meter and a bit high.

It is really fun once you get into it apart from you have to hike all the way up to the jump you can see how far you go because there are signs to show you.

You do it for about two hours, then you get tired and sweaty and best of all you get to use your biggest skis..... "

By Max Laughland

"I like ski jumping. It is quite scary when it is your first time skiing down. When you go off the small jump on your first time, sometimes you don't get much height. I did the small jump about 15 times and then i did the big jump. I did the big jump once and I shouted all the way down and closed my eyes because it was really scary and there was a massive drop off."

By Oli Laughland  

In the run up to the Interschools and Agilon Cup we have had some fantastic weather, almost every day being blue bird. Finally! Although the snow is getting soft sooner and sooner in the day ... the trainees have been enjoying the near perfect conditions and making the most of there time on skis.

English Championships - Bormio 2014

BORMIO

The BSA trainees had a very successful and fun filled week in Bormio, Italy at the English Alpine Championships.  With the first minis event being Kombi, we had some great results. Despite the issues with the timing, the course held up a dream and we were able to get two runs through a fun and exciting Kombi course held on the Stella Alpina. With the girls race having an unusual tie for first place – getting into Olympic Spirit some have said… and the boys dealing with some re-runs, timing queries and long delays till their start, all of the minis did exceptionally well to keep up the racing spirit!

Results:

U12 Boys – 1^st Ted Slade, 2^nd Joe Christey

U12 Girls – 3^rd Sienna Horton, 5^th Shona Rankin

U10 Boys – 1^st Max Laughland

U10 Girls – 4^th Sophie Stocker

 A special mention to our youngest member of the team – Oli Laughland who was allowed to forerun the Kombi and did a fantastic job at just 6 years old.

With one race down – we enjoyed another training day this time in Ogla. We had a great morning training GS on an empty hill, afterwards the kids tucked into the well know Italian food combo – Pizza & Pasta! Race ready for  the GS, which was to be run down Stelvio.

With a little light snow overnight, the GS required a lot of TLC. Soon after we got running, a course crew consisting of mainly minis parents were lapping round keeping the course in tip top condition for first run. Thankyou!

The GS was fairly long for some of the younger athletes, but a good challenge which all the minis took in their stride. We had yet another very successful day of racing with some personal bests. A huge congratulation to Sienna Horton who won the GS overall title – whilst fighting of some fierce competition in the boy’s, and girl’s category.

BSA walked away as overall boys and girls GS Champion (Sienna Horton and Joe Christey).

Results :

U12 Boys – 1^st Joe Christey, 4^th Ted Slade

U12 Girls – 1^st Sienna Horton, 5^th Shona Rankin 

U10 Boys – 1^st Max Laughland

U10 Girls – 5^th Sophie Stocker

A mention to Michael Harvey , who skied very well in 1^st run securing his spot in the top 15 overall!

On the whole a great week for the British Ski Academy, the minis rose to challenge as always and put down some great times. 

Minis Report : 

"Bormio 2014 was lots of fun. We had a Kombi which had some board-across, slalom, pro slalom and even a jump in it! The Giant Slalom was hard work because it was very long.  Towards the end of second run we all had lots of leg burn!  Although afterwards, we recovered and celebrated with some pizza and ice cream. We all got brain freeze! Our free ski day was also good fun, as we skied in the powder with the Glasgow racing club. We skied into lots of trees and even made friends with the Bormio horse." 

By Shona Rankin and Rebecca Chastney.

Oli Laughland on the Bormio Kombi jump. Age 6.

The children began their week with the Super-G Race on Saturday competing in 2 separate races on the same day. Conditions where tough at times, with fog and bad visibility coming in and out throughout the day. Two consecutive races on the same course allowed for a unique opportunity in Super-G to build some confidence in the first race and to really push and improve for the second, which counted for the championship. There were some fantastic performances over both runs and even half of the course completed on one ski by Jake Doyle which received a lot of cheers in the finish.

SG 1

Erika Heginbotham 1^st U16 Girls

Megan Jenkins 3^rd U16 Girls

Meghan Davis 3^rd U14 Girls

George Case 3^rd U14 Boys

SG 2

Erika Heginbotham 1^st U16 Girls

Harry Deighton 2^nd U14 Boys

Matt Heginbotham 3^rd U14 Boys

Following the Super-G race the Children had a training Day in Olga to prepare them for the GS race on Tuesday. There was quite a lot of fresh snow to contend with but we managed to get good runs back on the GS skis to so everyone felt confident going into the next race. The weather really cleared and we had some fantastic conditions for the GS.

GS

Yasmin Copper 1^st U16 Girls

Marion Legais 2^nd U16 Girls

Ethan Robert 3^rd U16 Boys

Charles Rankin 3^rd U14 Boys

We again had another training day in Olga before the final race of the championships and although it was a little wet and rainy we again managed to get comfortable on the SL skis and some great preparation the next day. This was again followed by fantastic conditions for our final championship race day. The U16’s had some challenging course setting to deal with on the first run which will be good preparation for the future if the Men’s Olympic SL is anything to go by.

SL

Harry Deighton 2^nd U14 Boys

Ethan Robert 3^rd U16 Boys

On the whole we had a fantastic week in Bormio and it was great to see the progress the trainees have made this season taken into the races.

Banked Stubbie Slalom

After arriving back from Bormio we had great fun enjoying some fresh powder which has been followed by near perfect training conditions and weather for the longest period for a few years.

Article: Scott and Aileen